The Man Who Folded Himself

infobox Book |
name = The Man Who Folded Himself
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Cover of first edition (hardcover)
author = David Gerrold
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Science fiction novel
publisher = Random House
release_date = 1973
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
pages = 148 pp
isbn = ISBN 0-394-47922-X
preceded_by =
followed_by = "The Man Who Folded Himself" is a 1973 science fiction novel by David Gerrold that deals with time travel. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1973 and the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1974.

Plot summary

The main character in the book (or so it seems), Daniel Eakins, inherits a belt that allows him to travel in time. This results in a series of time paradoxes, which are only resolved by the existence of multiple universes and multiple histories. Eakins, who repeatedly encounters alternate versions of himself, finds himself in progressively more bizarre situations, and ends up in an even more complex situation than the protagonist of Robert A. Heinlein's 1959 story "All You Zombies—". Much of the book deals with the psychological, physical, and personal challenges that manifest where individual time travel is possible at the touch of a button. The extraordinarily narcissistic Eakins repeatedly meets himself; has sex with himself; and ultimately cohabitates with an opposite-sex version of himself. He spends much of his own contorted lifetime at an extended party with dozens of versions of himself at different ages, before understanding the true nature of the gathering, and his true identity.

ee also

* "By His Bootstraps", a 1941 Heinlein short story, also with a contorted timeline.

References

*cite book | title=The Man Who Folded Himself | last=Gerrold | first=David | authorlink=David Gerrold | publisher=Random House | location= | edition= | date=1973 | id=ISBN 1-932100-04-0